Hair clumps in spring don’t necessarily mean a dead deer.
QUESTION: While out turkey hunting this spring I came upon several areas where I found patches of deer hair. We looked all over the area and never found any bones or other parts. There are lots of coyotes in my area and I’m wondering if that’s what got the deer. How far will they drag a deer if they kill it? – John K.
ANSWER: It is possible the hair you found was from a deer that was attacked and killed by coyotes, or possibly another predator like a bobcat or even a bear. In that case, you usually but not always find some other evidence in the area like bones, skin and hooves. As you mentioned you found the hair during turkey season, a far more likely scenario is that the deer were simply shedding their winter hair.
In the fall, deer grow a winter coat consisting of long, hollow brownish-gray hair that helps them better retain heat. Every spring, right around the middle of turkey season in most states, their winter coat is replaced with a summer coat of finer, reddish-brown hair. The rate of shedding can vary, and it is not at all uncommon to find several clumps in a relatively small area.
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